Prompt Prices Gained Value Thursday Morning on The UK's NBP Gas Trading Hub

Prompt prices gained value Thursday morning on the UK's NBP gas trading hub as demand rose, storage facilities were heavily utilized and temperature forecasts were revised lower. 

At 1200 London time, same- and next-day contracts were each valued at 68.10 pence/therm, up by 1.20 and 0.30 p/th respectively from Wednesday's close. 

National Grid had forecast demand pegged at 354 million cubic meters -- 47 million cu m above norms as temperatures pushed further below norms -- and the system was over supplied by 4 million cu m. 

"Stronger storage withdrawals, currently running at 102 million cu m, are keeping the system oversupplied," a market analyst said. 

Temperatures were 5 degrees Celsius below norms Thursday, CustomWeather showed, and are expected to remain below average across much of the country for at least the next week. 

Advice from the weather service on Wednesday suggested temperatures in London would rise marginally over the next few days but CustomWeather now expects it to cool or remain at the same level in London through to Sunday. 

The bullish moves continued to the front month which gained 0.20 p/th at 66.50 p/th while later dated contracts held firm despite significant losses to oil markets. 

Q2 and Summer 13 gas prices were unchanged from Wednesday's close at 64.20 and 64.10 p/th. 

Winter 13, too, was unchanged at 71.30 p/th while Summer 14 fell by 0.15 p/th to 64.75 p/th. 

Crude futures were down more than a dollar in morning European trading, extending Wednesday's selloff that saw both crude benchmarks close almost $2/b lower amid cross-the-border profit-taking. 

At 0945 GMT, April ICE Brent traded $1.07 lower at $114.53/b.